NY says $10M in stolen wages returned to workers

New York labor officials say more than $10 million in stolen wages have been returned to more than 17,000 victims in the first three months of the year.

The quarterly total exceeds $9 million in the same period last year, when the state returned $31.5 million overall.

According to state officials, common methods of wage theft include paying tips only, paying day rates below the minimum wage, not paying overtime, withholding final paychecks, not paying for training time and charging workers for required uniforms or equipment.

The quarterly report shows $7.4 million returned to 11,318 workers in New York City and nearly $1.4 million returned to 1,434 workers on Long Island.